Effective Communication While Debating by: Catherine Alles

Debate is really just a formal structure that helps us have a conversation about whether or not we should choose to make a change. At it’s core, it’s just a conversation, but there are ways we can improve our communication skills which will help us elevate our debating skills above just arguing with your siblings, friends, or parents. When we show up to a formal debate, we don’t just want to impress our judge with our arguments, but also our speaking ability and persuasiveness.

In this video, “Elements of Effective Communication”, I’ll be going over some basic communication tips, like eye contact and body control, but also going deeper into what it means to be a well rounded speaker, using ethos, pathos, and logos, and some do’s and don’ts to improve your skills.

Catherine graduated high school this past year and is taking a gap year to do a business internship through the program “Praxis.” After that, she is not sure if she will go to college or pursue other career paths, but she is interested in business, politics, and loves cooking, biking, and traveling. As a coach, she is passionate about helping debaters actually understand the arguments they are running, and focusing on quality over quantity of arguments. Catherine competed in TP with NCFCA for 5 years, and qualified to Nationals all 4 years of high school, finishing first in at-large her junior and senior years. She enjoyed partnering with both her older sister and younger brother, both of whom taught her very different skills. She won four debate tournaments over the years and was honored to get a 4th place speaker award at Nationals in 2015.

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Remember THIS Saturday Oct. 6, we have Luke McConnell presenting his workshop on Big Picture Argumentation. For more information or to sign up CLICK HERE.